Wednesday, 27 July 2011

Well, what can I say. This is Zev's 5th final this year. I was 'bummed' at Rugby we qualified for the final, and just as I was about to walk the champ final course someone queried my placement. Needless to say, I trust and rely the score people so I suggested that they speak to the judge. This then made me worried, should I be in the final or not? It turned out my placement was correct, however I lost valuable course walking time checking my results and it ruined the fun of the final for me and usually I luv being in a champ final. However as always onwards and forward, I chucked this years Rugby into the memory dung heap and looked forward to Weardale and what a day it was with Zev. We were 4th in both the agility and jumping qualifying rounds.Heres the Jumping round:-

Heres the qualifing agility round -

In the final we came 3rd. I was so thrilled, that is the thing with Zev whether we run good and clean or not, he runs his heart out for me. And that really does give me such a buzz. And actually there are so many aspects of our performance that I was pleased with, from pull-thrus (not his favourite), working ahead, dealing with changes in contact surfaces (rubber whilst brilliant, has affected Zev's style which is scoot and go considerably - major retraining having to happen.) We are evolving as a partnership for sure. This is the final round -

My thanks to Weardale for such a great show, scenery, location and people. And you could check your scores easily and quickley, which is fab and very helpful. Plus the black, pink and white equipments looked really smart. Just what agility should be - enjoyed :-)

Sunday, 10 July 2011

Yahooo, at long last we can use the whole bottom area of the garden for agility. OK, it is not the perfect lawn but it is so much better than it was, and as we had another weekend at home we could properly put it into use. I must admit I was quite daunted, I don't want to overtrain and the garden is our R&R area too for all of us. Where do you start, when one of the things that you dream of starts to become a reality? Oh, the responsibility of being able to do proper stuff in your garden, for when the weather is good at least.

Zev - shaking his toy - good 'n' proper - July 11

So Marc set a course and I handled it 3 times. As if the guys had three runs at a show. And I am really lucky that not only we have a garden where we can now do this, but Marc set a course that contained what I need to work on, which is setting the correct line for Rivi and Zev, when there is a nice 'handlers trap' to fall into, especially of a fast, technical course. And the guys loved it. It was like "wow can do this at home too not just little bits" :-)

Rivi aka Nedlo Drives Me Wild - AWG

Nuts aka Woodsorrel Drives Me Nuts

Storm aka Storm's A Brewing

My boy, who taught me so much. Thank you and miss you. Took me from Elementary to Novice, in his final year of agility was second overall for the Novice Classic and finished third in the final - DINAS 2004. In Obedience Storm took me from Pre-Beginner to 'A'

Wings aka Woodsorrel Bright Wings

Marc & Wings, a journey indeed - came to us with more baggage than a airport luggage conveyor belt, not that you would know that now :-) Grade 6 in agility with one agility win to Grade 7. Won the KC Novice Cup 2007 and Qualified Crufts Team 2011. Now retired to watch TV and herd to her hearts content.

Raz aka Woodsorrel Crazy Nut

Marc's crazy sweet dog – Obedience C only and Grade 7 - Championship level in Agility. Raz had floaters in his eyes that cause blurring since birth, which build up and cause the retinal detachment. At 6 he finally became blind in one eye and worsening poor vision in the other due to retinal detachment, which meant he was retired at 6 years old. It is amazing and a testament to Marc's handling that Raz did as well as he did. The problem is hereditary / CEA. Raz also has the occasional 'fit' and intolerant of any cereal ie wheat/maize.

Tri aka No spills Tri Thrills

Marc's girl - sorely missed - one fantastic season going senior and to the semi's before being retired at 3 years old - due to chroic hd/back and heart problems. That one year was a golden summer of agility, watching them run together was simply thrilling. Her previous owners had brought her from a pet shop, fortunately they rehomed her to us when she was a around a year old.